。 Just when Xu Jie was about to take a break after dealing with related matters, a letter from Li Hongzhang pulled him back to work, the Germans came, and the grade of the people who came was not low, and he needed to negotiate some things in person. In desperation, Xu Jie could only guess who was coming and prepare for related things.

"Lord Xu, thank you very much for being able to meet us on the Tianjin, the first battleship of the Great Qing Dynasty. My name is Hoffmann, envoy of the German Empire, and I am already familiar with these two to you, the first being Mr. Ludendorf Haacke, who designed the plan for your country, and this one is Colonel Tyre. Hoffman made an introduction as soon as he walked in the door. Compared to Xu Jie's current status, he is at least at the level of vice admiral in the West, so respect is a must.

"Welcome to all of you, the door of our Beiyang Fleet is always open to German friends." Xu Jie said with a smile.

"First of all, we congratulate our friends in the Far East on winning this great battle that will affect the fortunes of the country. At the same time, I would like to express my sincere admiration for the achievements of Your Excellency and the Beiyang Fleet in previous naval battles. Hoffman continued.

"Thank you, Mr. Special Envoy and German friends, let's get down to business. I think that if the two countries are to start a new cooperation, I am afraid that there are too many details to be finalized. Xu Jie is very unsuitable for this kind of diplomatic rhetoric.

"As for the possible procurement of new warships for your foreign fleet, I think the German Empire will be one of the best options for your Excellency. Lord Xu is well versed in maritime affairs, I wonder if Your Excellency has any evaluation of our Caesar-class battleships? Hoffman said carefully.

"Your Excellency should know that the pipe belt and admiral of the foreign fleet are my old brothers who were separated from the Beiyang, and even the generals of the original Penghu Naval Division and the Liangguang Naval Division have fought with me in Beiyang, Xu is not talented, and he has taken on such a heavy responsibility, so I must take every purchase price seriously." Xu Jie did not answer the other party's question directly.

"Does Lord Xu think that the Caesar is inferior to your country's pisa? We also used a new turret main gun, and our secondary guns numbered 18 150 guns. There were also 12 88-mm rapid-fire guns used against torpedo boats. This firepower is already quite impressive. Hoffman thought about it and finally understood what Xu Jie meant.

"First of all, it needs to be noted that the number of secondary artillery in your country is indeed very large. In particular, the number of 6-inch guns is basically more than double that of PISA, which is an overcorrection of the problem of the small number of secondary guns in the Brandenburg class. Speaking of this, Xu Jie smiled. However, when it comes to the firepower of the main guns, although the rate of fire of your country's 240mm guns is also very fast, there are only 4 guns, and the weight of the shells is only 140kg, so the power is very limited. And the auxiliary gun of the gun gallery because of the problem of the firing boundary. In fact, it is simply impossible to shoot at the same target with 9 guns. Xu Jie analyzed them one by one.

"In addition, the 12-inch main armament of your Caesar is actually a bit over-defended. And the armor belt has a limited height, which is very unsuitable for the requirements of modern naval warfare. The most critical problem was that the Caesar's speed was only 17 knots, which was really unacceptable to us. Subsequently, Xu Jie pointed out two more important issues, to be honest, Caesar's projection is still terrifying. However, the layout and speed of protection are categorically unacceptable to Xu Jie. Especially the speed, it is impossible to form a formation with the Beiyang capital ships, and the speed difference between the two sides is 3 knots!

"What kind of warship do you want?" Hoffman and Tyr looked at each other and asked.

"First of all, the main gun must be a turret gun, and the caliber must be more than 10 inches, and the rate of fire cannot be less than 2 rounds a minute. All secondary guns are turretized. Guns of more than 100mm caliber cannot be less than 16 guns. Secondly, a new type of double-head boiler must be used, no matter how much output is used, but the speed must be more than 19 knots. Thirdly, the main armor belt can be cut to 9-10 inches. However, it must be covered with upper armor, which can be made of your country's Krupp armor. Fourth, we can accept a tonnage of about 10,000 tons. Xu Jie said and handed over a document. There are also some specific details on the list for the Special Envoy to look through. …,

"What about your government's offer? In this way, our country is equivalent to redesigning a new type of battleship, which is very expensive. Hoffman said with a quick glance.

"No more than £600,000, the lower the better." Xu Jie replied very simply.

"You should know that the Brandenburg cost around £750,000 and your price is too low. It's hard for us to accept. Ludendorf Haacke, who had not spoken, said.

"That being the case. Then we can only continue to order the PISA class in the Kingdom of Italy. Xu Jie replied. Mr. Ludendorff, don't think that I don't know the profits of the battleship, I'm a designer myself. What is the price offered by the Kingdom of Italy to Beiyang? The new Dante-class battleship was only £800,000. Note that this is a battleship of more than 14,000 tons. ”

"Whether it's a Dante-class battleship or a PISA-class armored cruiser. The order volume is already very large, and the upfront design cost has been diluted by the huge quantity. And we need to redesign a new warship, and you should understand the cost difference. Ludendorf Haacke said.

"I must provide my friends with enough ships of good quality and low price, and we cannot afford to let our own fleet suffer in order to take care of the business of the German shipyards." Xu Jie didn't let a step.

"And how many warships does your country plan to order from our country?" Hoffman took a deep breath and stabilized his emotions. Long before coming to the Qing Kingdom, Wilhelm II, the German peacock, specially summoned him.

"The Italians, the country that took advantage of the contradictions of various countries to barely reunify, was able to build such advanced warships and gain such a great reputation, and the German Empire actually never got an order from the Qing State after the Jingyuan, this is a shame for the imperial shipbuilding industry, understand? I don't care what method you use. As long as I turn out, the German ships must reappear in the Qing fleet. And it must be able to prove its strength through the test of actual combat like Dingyuan! Money is not an issue, the great Germany is never short of money. The Navy-loving Emperor roared loudly.

In the face of the Kaiser's wrath, the envoy could only tremble, and the Tyr batch on the side could not help. He knew the hardships of this negotiation, that General Xu, no, he should be called Admiral Xu now, is not a person who is easy to fool, and his relationship with the Italians makes it very difficult to carry out this transaction, the low enough price, and the strong combat effectiveness tested by the battle make the Italians more advantageous.

"At least two, in addition, I hope that your country can give me some assistance in machinery manufacturing, electrical industry and heavy chemical industry, as for the design drawing, I think I can provide some reference for your country. In return, I hope that the design part of the ship construction cost can be eliminated. Xu Jie Zhilu said, you can't talk about business if you keep suppressing it, and you can only slap a sweet date to make the other party follow your train of thought.

"References? Can you make that clearer? Tyre asked.

"I can provide your country with some drawings of the original Garibaldi class, and your country only needs to help us correct and improve the original design, this is completely free, of course, I hope that your country will relax export restrictions to our country in other areas of industry." Xu Jie said with a smile.

"What do you mean by partial drawings?" Ludendorff asked.

"All the drawings that interest you, such as the turret design, the power, and the layout of the main cabins. If you can accept this condition, I think the friendly relations between the Qing and the German Empire will be even higher. Xu Jie continued to say the tempting conditions.

"Price will not be a barrier between the two countries. However, as for further exchanges between the two sides, I think we still need to prepare, so it is better for us to discuss the matter and finalize the deal first. More cooperation means more bickering, and with the idea of doing his job well first, Hoffman decided to settle the matter first. …,

"If your country's conditions are convincing enough, our ocean-going fleet will order at least 2 warships of this type. This is a large order of one million pounds, and I hope that your government will submit the detailed documents to us as soon as possible. Xu Jie is also satisfied with this result.

"May the friendly relations between the German Reich and your country be further strengthened after this cooperation." Hoffman said happily. Although the cost of more than 500,000 is not high, there is still a profit, (in history, Germany quoted 600,000 pounds for the Beiyang 10,000-ton warship.) And you can get a ready-made drawing, not only can you learn the relevant skills, but also save a lot of money, and the income may not be much less.

In this way, a new branch appeared in the vast pedigree of the Garibaldi-class armored cruisers, and that was its German cousin, the Bismarck-class armored cruisers. The hull structure of this battleship, which used twin 11-inch guns, was basically the same as that of the original Garibaldi-class armored cruiser. However, the underwater protection system was strengthened, with special empty compartments and elastic armor plates to defend against torpedoes, while all guns over 100mm were turretized. The ammunition supply and reloading system of the 11-inch twin-mounted main gun turret has also been greatly improved.

On the whole, the combat power level of the modified warship is no less than that of the PISA-class armored cruisers, which are the direct descendants of the Garibaldi class, and this type of battleship is equipped with the German Navy, the Qing Navy, the Spanish Navy, and even the navies of Japan and other countries are equipped with this type of warship, which has been well received by all user countries. The Bimes-class armored cruisers of the German Navy were even in service to the 1 World War and were used to perform tasks in sub-dangerous areas. As the first modern armored cruiser in Germany, the construction of this battleship was undoubtedly of considerable historical significance. Of course, this is a later story, and I will talk about it later.

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